Discover how to create websites that deliver results.

The power to influence

Does your visual identity help or hinder your growth?

school marketing news

A rebrand typically consists of a name, logo or logotype, typeface selections, colour selections and sometimes, a tagline. While not being the sum total of your brand, a rebrand has the power to influence — good or bad — how people perceive your school. For some established schools, a visual identity can represent a significant brand asset. So making the decision to change your visual identity or brand is a big decision and should not be treated lightly.

Here are two situations that indicate a rebrand will create real, enduring value:

Rebranding your school is a big decision to make. There are many different elements that go into a rebrand that are often lost in the process and not addressed until it has been noticed by a parent. So, let’s first make sure that you actually need to rebrand your school.

The decision to rebrand is often made without proper consideration and can leave schools spending a lot of money to not get very far, or worse, go backwards. The purpose of rebranding a school is to signify a change. Have a look at a previous blog of ours if you need help deciding if a rebrand is right for you.

Now that you are set on rebranding, you’ve got a lot of changes to make to your messaging, branding and positioning. So what does your school actually need to change in a rebrand? Here are 7 essentials you need to consider.

Insights into the world of school marketing and communications, presented by Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe. Brad and Scully discuss the concept of schools having their own unique brand personality; the slump of ad agencies in 2016 and if they will make a comeback; six questions to consider before drafting your 2017 marketing plan; if you should rebrand your school; onsite tours and why it’s important to get your parents and the community onto your school’s campus; and the role of language when discussing creativity.

In this special podcast, Brad interviews Josh Miles, principal and founder of Indianapolis-based Miles Design, an award-winning design firm specialising in brand strategy, corporate identity and website design. In mid-2015 he joined Redwall Branding and Advertising to create a new branding firm, MilesHerndon. Topics covered include building a bold brand, the strategy behind a logo, how visual identity is only part of a school’s brand, the importance of differentiating a school and some examples of how this can be achieved.

I’ve spent a good part of Christmas and the New Year thinking about luxury. What is a luxury brand and what defines it? What name would I put forward to a client for a new luxury brand?

Luxury is essentially of no use, physiologically unnecessary, and yet more psychologically vital than ever before. The late 90s and early 2000s saw the dawn of a new kind of luxury. Luxury that people dreamed about and purchased as well.

Luxury purchases today can break with the traditional logic of selling through conservative boutique operations and relies on the luxury ‘drug' - that is, its exclusivity.

Outside the well-known luxury brands of perfume, automobile and timepieces (not a watch, but a timepiece) we’ve entered an era of mass exclusivity. Everyday items carrying previously exclusive brands are within the reach of the majority of the population.

The spell of a luxury purchase is its power to give people an idealised image of themselves whenever they own it or are even around it.

A question we regularly get asked by schools is should we embark on a rebrand, and if so how can it be done?

The only valid reason for considering a rebrand is if you've got some change that you want to signal to the marketplace. Otherwise, you are wasting brand equity.

A rebrand is not a new logo. It could be that, but it's not just that. That is your visual identity, or a brand refresh. If it is truly a rebrand then you are saying this is who we are, we're different to what you might have thought.

Do you know what your school's story is? Moreover, do your staff know? The first step to successful branding is ensuring that what you say and who you believe you are, is also how the market perceives you. It is therefore imperative that you and your team are clear on what that is before communicating it to the outside world.

Of course, your brand message portrays the best possible image of your school but just because you say it’s true, doesn’t make it true. We often lose sight of what our brand actually is and how our market perceives it to be.

Building, protecting and preserving your school’s brand and its reputation means consistently monitoring and understanding what is being said about it.

Proactive brand and reputation management ensures the coverage through traditional and digital media work to benefit your school’s brand and reputation, not erode it. It helps you understand what people say about your brand and where they say it.

Watch this webinar to learn how to build and preserve your school's reputation.

In this podcast Brad and Scully discuss adopting a more strategic, longer-term approach to video; four automated emails you should be sending; whether email messages are reaching inboxes; managing reputation risk; fantastic videos for hospital schools; and a podcast player for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.